R.I.P. | Ron Blackwell, 1946-2018

Ron Blackwell, 1946-2018

Having recently tried to track down Ron Blackwell in pursuit of information about the apparel industry, I was shocked to find out he had died.

Ron worked in NYC for ACTWU, the men’s equivalent of the ILGWU, but as apparel jobs steadily left New York City, his union merged with the ILGWU and other unions to form UNITE.

Ron became its Chief Economist and went on to Washington as Chief Economist of the AFL-CIO until he retired in 2012. He suffered from several illnesses before his death last year in Sibley Memorial Hospital.

I knew him in the 1970s. He was the first person I hired at the Council on Municipal Performance, where I was President in 1973-1988. He was smart and diligent and displayed  great strength of character, as evidenced by his willingness to do time rather than accept alternatives to military service offered to conscientious objectors who were drafted during the Vietnam War.

Here are four well-deserved eulogies for Ron:

1. Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO: Ron Blackwell Left Behind a Strong Legacy on Behalf of Working People Ron Blackwell, the retired chief economist of the AFL-CIO and pioneer in the labor movement, passed away on Sunday night. From his Alabama roots to his role as chief economist at the AFL-CIO, Ron was defined by his unshakable courage and conviction. Whether it was his choice to go to prison rather than go to war in Vietnam or charting new paths for our economy while serving on the board of the Baltimore branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Ron was always true to himself and working people. After teaching economics at the New School for Social Research in New York City, Ron began to leave his mark on the union movement. He joined the staff of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, where he quickly established his complete devotion to the rights of working people. At the AFL-CIO, Ron advised the leadership of the labor movement and fundamentally changed the way we thought about the economy. His legacy will live on through programs he created like Common Sense Economics—a radically different approach to economics that provides training and education for working people by working people—and that remain at the core of the AFL-CIO’s work. In addition to his work in economics, Ron was a recognized leader on issues of trade, globalization and corporate governance. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Janet, and millions of working people around the world whose lives were improved by his decades of tireless work on our behalf. https://aflcio.org/2018/2/27/ron-blackwell-left-behind-strong-legacy-behalf-working-people

2. Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO Former AFL-CIO Chief Economist Ron Blackwell died Sunday, February 25, in Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., after a series of illnesses. Ron began his service to the AFL-CIO in 1996 as the Director of Corporate Affairs. He was appointed Chief Economist at the Federation in 2004, and retired in 2012. “He was highly respected not only in the AFL-CIO, but among union economists around the world,” said Marge Tracey of the National Capitol Area Union Retiree Club, where he was a member. “We will all miss tremendously his wisdom, generosity, and friendship.” At Ron's request, no public memorial service is planned. www.dclabor.org/home/in-memoriam-ron-blackwell.

3. So Long, Ron! A Farewell to Ron Blackwell, “Common Sense” Economist for the Labor Movement, Tom Croft, Managing Director, March 14, 2018

“No doubt this attack on democracy reflected the rise of a wealthy minority…which called itself the Oligarchical Party, and denounced democracy as an incompetent sham.”   

This passage, from back in the day, might have been a tongue-in-cheek quote from Mark Twain about the raw, wild west violence of the robber barons of the Gilded Age, or maybe by Thorsten Veblen, the author who wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class and coined the term “conspicuous consumption,” about the rigged greed of the Roaring ‘20s.
Wrong.  It was actually a quote from a book by philosopher Will Durant, who was writing about the counter-attack on the democracy at the time, several hundred years BC, in Athens, during the time of Socrates.  Many Americans, including silver-haired business lions, feel we are returning to the Gilded Age and Roaring ‘20s, when financial and corporate barons ruthlessly worked to destroy their competition and remove the early vestiges of labor unions and business regulation. …

It is with these thoughts in mind that we mourn the recent passing of Ron Blackwell, who, most recently, served as the Chief Economist of the AFL-CIO.  Ron had a deep understanding of how current oligarchies have betrayed the country, and he had a progressive populist view that we—the 99%—need to fight back.  Ron would still be raging about the wars on working people and the resultant demolition derby that has been rolling across our land, hurting people and communities. …

During his years at ACTWU (the former men’s clothing and textile workers’ union), Ron and Bill Patterson established the LongView Funds, through Amalgamated Bank, which, for over 25 years have taken an activist approach to investing with ESG criteria.  At the AFL-CIO, Ron helped design and helm the corporate affairs department, and helped launch the Office of Investment and “Common Sense Economics.”  In that capacity, he was also a founder of the global CWC. I interviewed Ron for our Responsible Investor Handbook. As we said in the book, over the years, global labor leaders and capital stewards increasingly recognized the importance of coordinated activist engagements and investment collaboration. This led to the establishment of global labor networks that coordinate shareholder and political actions and provide mutual support. …

Last, as a country economist, so to speak, from Alabama, Ron related to those of us who were part of the plant closure and unemployment movements in the 1980s and ‘90s.  While at ACTWU, he and his union were a pivotal co-sponsor for the 1989 Industrial Renaissance Conference, along with our friends at the Steelworkers and our national network.  Ron was there, and he spoke at that event, one of the first stabs at presenting a national, sustainable industrial policy from the ground up. If you’ve followed the smart economic policy papers coming out of the Century Foundation “High Wage America” coalition and our ongoing Heartland Cities Tour, you’ll see that original, path-breaking Renaissance Conference outline.

After moving to the AFL-CIO, Ron whole-heartedly supported the break out of the Heartland Labor/Capital Network in the mid-1990s.  He supported alternative economic strategies and campaigns to the hilt.  Ron wanted to understand what worked, and he lent his name to our many-faceted, mutual struggles to take back America. In these times, we face a dangerous new Oligarchical Party.  When we fight back—for our jobs and dignity, for our families and communities—we are following the proud legacy of Ron Blackwell.   He was a warrior for workers, as Bill Patterson told me.  We are eternally grateful for the wit, wisdom and work of Ron Blackwell. www.heartlandnetwork.org/single-post/2018/03/14/So-Long-Ron-A-Farewell-to-Ron-Blackwell-“Common-Sense”-Economist-for-the-Labor-Movement

4. Jeff Faux, Economic Policy Institute Raised in Alabama, Ron Blackwell was a steadfast defender of the rights of working people and a life-long enemy of economic injustice in its many forms. He was the rare man of principle who actually had the courage of his convictions. As a young man, he chose to go to prison rather than submit to those who were waging the unjust and terrible war in Vietnam. https://www.epi.org/blog/ron-blackwell-1946-2018/

Also: C-Span Videos Ron Blackwell has six videos in the C-SPAN Video Library; the first was taped at a 1993 Forum. https://www.c-span.org/person/?ronblackwell.